Chapter 38 · Beneath the Contract Vault

"Answer me, Lia. Did you come back to save me, or to finish the job?"

Cael had her wrist pinned against the broken auction table. His other hand held the door shut while city wardens hammered on the other side. The silver command burned beneath Lia’s skin.

NEXT ECLIPSE: COMPLETE EXTRACTION.

The words crawled up her arm like living wire.

"If I wanted you dead," Lia snapped, "you wouldn’t be standing there asking stupid questions."

His jaw tightened. His eyes had gone too bright. Not human bright. The curse was climbing through him again, dragging his pupils thin.

"You held a blade to my chest."

"And I stopped."

"Why?"

"Because you asked me to."

The pounding at the door turned into a crack of splintering wood.

Sable shoved the broken memory bottle into her coat and kicked a fallen guard away from the passage. "Great. We’re doing the emotional interrogation now? The wardens are about to turn this room into a crime scene."

Cael didn’t look at her. "How do you know what I asked?"

Lia yanked against his grip. His fingers tightened.